Brown v. Nova Scotia (Environment), 2016 NSSC 319 (CanLII)

This case was heard in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.

A site at 1275 Old Sambro Road in Harrietsfield, Nova Scotia was used for many years as a construction and debris recycling facility—first by RDM Recycling Limited (which later changed its name to 3012334 Nova Scotia Limited) and then by the numbered company 3076525 Nova Scotia Limited (which took over the business name “RDM Recycling”). Operations at the facility created leachate runoff that contaminated the soil and groundwater at the site as well as the well water of a number of Harrietsfield properties. In 2010, Nova Scotia's Minister of Environment issued a Ministerial Order requiring both numbered companies to address the issues and remediate the site. 3076525 Nova Scotia Limited appealed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.

After the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia concluded that 3076525 Nova Scotia Limited’s appeal should be granted in part, it remitted the matter to the Minister of Environment for reconsideration. In 2016, the Minister issued two new Ministerial Orders, taking into account the issues that had been raised by the Court after the hearing in 2015. One of those orders named 3012334 Nova Scotia Limited and two Directors of the company, Michael Lawrence and Roy Brown; the other named 3076525 Nova Scotia Limited. Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Brown appealed the Ministerial Order in which they had been named.

After determining the proper standards of review, the Court held that the Ministerial Order was reasonable and procedurally fair, and it dismissed the Directors’ appeal.

To read about other decisions related to this case, go to 3076525 Nova Scotia Ltd. v. Nova Scotia (Environment), 2014 NSSC 85 (CanLII), 3076525 Nova Scotia Ltd. v. Nova Scotia (Environment), 2015 NSSC 137 (CanLII), 3076525 NS v. Minister of the Environment, 2016 NSSC 138 (CanLII), and 3076525 Nova Scotia Limited v. Nova Scotia (Environment), 2017 NSSC 67 (CanLII).

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nssc/doc/2016/2016nssc319/2016nssc319.html

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